Possible Dovii X RQ pair tank mates

[cichlidfish]

220 is mighty small its just a 6 foot tank, I know of people who keep just 1 dovii in such tank, but in a large tank, like 12 feet, people have kept midas, jag, GG, pearsei, tinfoils, jardini, CK, lungs and others with dovii and FH.
Here is a pic I saved from somewhere. This tank might even be smaller than yours, and although there is no dovii, there is a breeding flowerhorn in here. The owner said the tank worked just fine for years, as long as there were no eggs or fry.View attachment 1253797

Those poor fish, that is cramped. What happened in the long term? Did the owner upgrade?

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Those poor fish, that is cramped. What happened in the long term? Did the owner upgrade?

I keep seeing this tank as an example of how crowding "works". works for who I say.The keeper may be able to keep them alive and may be able to control water parameters. All I see is a lot of big fish being forced to live in the most unnatural way possible with no hope of a hint of normality.
Living in a glass tank has its limitations for all species,but tanks like this take it to another level.

 

[cichlidfish]

220 is mighty small its just a 6 foot tank, I know of people who keep just 1 dovii in such tank, but in a large tank, like 12 feet, people have kept midas, jag, GG, pearsei, tinfoils, jardini, CK, lungs and others with dovii and FH.
Here is a pic I saved from somewhere. This tank might even be smaller than yours, and although there is no dovii, there is a breeding flowerhorn in here. The owner said the tank worked just fine for years, as long as there were no eggs or fry.View attachment 1253797

Those poor fish, that is cramped. What happened in the long term? Did the owner upgrade?

I keep seeing this tank as an example of how crowding "works". works for who I say.The keeper may be able to keep them alive and may be able to control water parameters. All I see is a lot of big fish being forced to live in the most unnatural way possible with no hope of a hint of normality.
Living in a glass tank has its limitations for all species,but tanks like this take it to another level.

I agree. People only focus on the fish surviving, but not thriving. Of course there is no aggression when they are so packed in the tank that they can barely move lol.
I like to see natural behavior and have fish hit their full potential. Aggression really isn't natural behavior as some think. If you watch any video of these fish in the wild, they are peacefully coexisting with their own and other species. It's unnatural conditions that force them to become aggressive.

 

[J. H.]

I did not pick that tank to show a good example, merely to show that any of those fish can potentially coexist with a FH. I would never do or tell someone else to do such a thing as I said before, to keep tankmates with a dovii you need a twelve foot tank. Sorry if I came off like I was being supportive of such overcrowding.

 

[cichlidfish]

I agreed with what you said. It wasn't your tank and you mentioned tank size matters. Some people have been successful to keep dovii with others in a large enough tank.
No worries

 

[dan518]

How many years did the tank work just fine for? Andy woods community tank worked fine for a few years then out the blue he woke up to find some of his prise fish had been killed and the rest hiding after being injured by his Rd, surly you can only claim success if it lasts the duration of the fish natural life.

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

Just to play devils advocate -Tiger15

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Dovii hold a territory about the size of a basketball court in the wild.
There won't be many happy to share a 220.
It's a no brainer to me.

 

[Hendre]

Dovii hold a territory about the size of a basketball court in the wild.
There won't be many happy to share a 220.
It's a no brainer to me.

Betta's take a square meter in the wild (40" x 40") and people try to cohab them with other fish, even other bettas in even smaller tanks.

Tbh there isn't anything to add there

 

[Stanzzzz7]

A betta is no where near as territorial as an adult male dovii wanting to breed.Except with another male of its own kind.
A 24 inch tank for a betta is much more of a realistic compromise than a 220 for an adult dovii.
A dovii is a large powerful open water predator,capable of very fast bursts of speed.It is my opinion (and only my opinion) a 220 is nowhere near big enough for a solo male for life.
As magnificent as they are I would not even attempt to house one.